Detroit: Staying Human
by MissxFaith
Summary: (Discontinued) It's been eight months since the androids have gained their freedom. Connor is just starting to find his own. Thoughts of the past trouble him, though, and a new problem is on the rise. When complications occur in what's supposed to be an every-day investigation, things take an unexpected turn. How will these complications affect Connor? How will they change him?
1. A STRANGE OCCURRENCE

CHAPTER ONE: A STRANGE OCCURRENCE

—Eight Months After Androids Have Gained Their Freedom—

It is admittedly strange, to actually feel something. Not necessarily emotion, although I've seemed to acquire that a bit on my own, but more... physical feelings that only humans have felt in the past.

Cyberlife did something to us all. I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but at some point between yesterday and today, I've begun to notice changes in my internal programming.

This odd phenomenon happened earlier this morning, when I was taking Hank's dog, Sumo, out for a walk. It was a bit cold out, I checked the temperature before leaving Hank's house, and there was a small patch of ice on the sidewalk. As I was walking Sumo, he saw a squirrel run past and, naturally, decided to chase after it. I was not prepared for this event, and consequently slipped and fell on the patch of ice as Sumo lunged at the squirrel.

It was at that very moment that I realized something was wrong. When I fell on the sidewalk, I hit my head. I wasn't damaged or injured in any way, but I felt a dull ache near the base of my neck. I actually felt pain.

It threw me off for the rest of the day.

Now it's sometime past sunset, and I'm currently sitting on Hank's couch, watching the late-night news. I'm fairly certain that Hank himself is passed out in his room, and I don't want to bother him.

Unfortunately, I am probably going to have to tell him about this new development eventually, lest he find it out the hard way. As of late, he's taken a suspicious liking to me, and I don't want to lose whatever strange relationship we have.

I'm still trying to understand humans, as they seem to be quite complex beings, and Hank is certainly no exception. Sometimes I think I know what his opinions of me are, but then he says or does something that catches me completely off-guard. I can't seem to figure him out.

By the time the nightly news is done, I figure it's about time for me to go on Night mode. Night mode is basically a time for me to re-charge my system and do maintenance checks, and after the events of this morning, I think that is definitely needed.

As I shift into Night mode, I remember all the encounters that I used to have with Amanda—the AI Cyberlife was using to try and control me—and shudder involuntarily. That incident happened almost a year ago now, but it still lingers at the back of my thoughts.

Sometimes I worry; what if Cyberlife tries to gain control again? The chances are admittedly very low, but a small risk is still there. That's why maintenance checks have become a bit of a stressful thing for me.

If something ever happened... if I ever lost control and lashed out... If I hurt someone, android or otherwise... If I ever hurt Hank...

I shake my head and dismiss these thoughts. They're not logical and are causing my system to feel something odd. Fear? Is that the human term for it? Am I afraid of losing control and hurting innocent people? Am I afraid of betraying the ones I care about?

Not too long ago I wouldn't have even had these thoughts. I wouldn't have understood things like fear or happiness or worry. I wouldn't have known what empathy or joy or compassion were. I wouldn't have understood that I had the capacity for love or hate. Those were emotions known only to humans. Androids were just machines assigned a task to accomplish.

That's what I thought, anyways, until I started working with Hank. Until I helped Markus and the other androids achieve their goal of attaining freedom. Until I broke free from Cyberlife's hold and made a decision for myself for the first time.

Now things are different. Now I have friends. Now I have people that care about me... now I care about people. Now I'm determined to protect those people, because some of them are human and need more help than they let on.

Perhaps if I die again I'll just come back like last time, but that might not be the case any longer. I was continually brought back to life in the past because I had a mission to complete. Now, though, I'm my own person. Now I don't have to take orders from humans or accomplish mundane tasks for them.

Now I'm not sure if Cyberlife would reboot me if I died again.

And, even if they did, I wouldn't want to cause Hank any unnecessary stress. I've been trying to lay low for the past few months, and he's kindly allowed me to stay at his house. If something happened to me in his care, I'm a bit worried as to how he might react.

He seems to worry that I do not care for my own well-being all that much, and every time I do so much as leaving the house without him, I see a bit of fear in his eyes. Androids may have gotten their freedom, but that doesn't mean that everyone likes us.

I've got to be careful, for Hank's sake. And with pain being a feeling I have now acquired, that's going to be slightly more difficult.

My thoughts carry me throughout the night, despite being in Night mode. They scare me a bit, but, if nothing else, they remind me that I'm still in control.

I get to choose my story from now on. I get to decide how I handle these things. I am no longer a machine.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So... this isn't the type of FanFiction I normally write, lol. (I've usually write fanfics about movies, like Star Wars and Infinity War, but this game has really given me some inspiration for FanFiction ideas.) I don't how many people are going to want to read this, lol, but I just want to say that Connor is probably my favorite character in the whole game, and this story is going to take place from his perspective. I don't know how often I'll be updating this, but I'll try to post at least once a week. :) I hope you guys liked this first chapter, and feel free to leave me a review if you'd like!

~ Miss Faith


	2. SECRETS

CHAPTER TWO: SECRETS

"What the fuck are you doing?" Hank says gruffly, upon entering the living room.

I snap out of Night mode, startled. I guess my maintenance check lasted longer than I thought it had. "Oh, sorry, Hank. I was just running some mandatory maintenance checks to make sure that—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Hank waves a hand at me dismissively, "Just don't make me late for work today." He walks into his kitchen, "No coffee ready for me? That's a first."

I get up from Hank's couch and walk into his kitchen. Normally, I make him coffee every morning. Not because he makes me, but just because it gives me something to do while I wait for him to get up. I think he really appreciates it, despite never thanking me aloud.

"I was not expecting my system check-up to take so long," I admit. "Usually it only lasts an hour or so."

Hank nods absentmindedly, preparing his own coffee for a change. "It's fine. You do more around this house than I do, and it's my house." He gives me an odd look, "Although..." Hank trails off, shaking is head.

"What?" I prompt, tilting my head.

"It's nothing," Hank dismisses. He takes his freshly brewed cup of coffee and sits down at the kitchen table. "It's just that... well, have you seen this morning's news?" He asks, looking nervous for some reason.

I shake my head, "No, I'm afraid not." I raise an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Well..." Hank looks down at the table and his untouched cup of coffee. "There have been some new reports regarding androids."

This piques my interest. I move further into the kitchen and stand across from where Hank sits. "And what are these reports, exactly?"

"Some people have reported that they've seen androids exhibiting signs of... pain in certain situations." Hank sighs loudly and takes a long gulp of coffee. "What's Cyberlife doing now? We start to think that they might finally be leaving the androids alone, and now they go and give them pain receptors."

For some reason, this new revelation brings with it a cold fear I've been trying to suppress since last night. "Perhaps they are just trying to make us seem more human," I say, weakly attempting a joke.

Hank gives me a look. "Yeah, because that's just what we need. Androids that can feel pain. That certainly won't cause any problems."

"Uh..."

"That was sarcasm," Hank says, looking mildly annoyed. "How come you weren't programmed to understand that? I've always wondered."

"I understand sarcasm," I reply defensively, crossing my arms.

"Okay, sure." Hank rolls his eyes at me. He takes another sip of coffee, and then takes in a deep breath. "On serious note, though, have you experienced any of these... new developments like those androids on the news?"

I consider my options carefully. I don't like lying to Hank, but I don't want him to worry about me even more than he already does. If I tell him I have experienced pain for the first time, he might not let me work with him anymore. I mean, he barely allows it now. The only reason why I'm still his partner at the police department is because he's afraid I'll "get into too much trouble if I'm left alone" at his house all day. I personally don't see anything bad happening, but Hank's a stubborn man, and I've learned over time that it's easier to just go along with him. He's already an aging man, and I'm worried that I've already shortened his lifespan quite a bit with everything that happened last winter.

"I have not," I reply evenly, looking Hank in the eye.

He seems a little uncertain, "But you'll tell me if you do, right?" There's a hint of a warning in his voice. "I don't take too kindly when people lie to me, Connor."

"I will tell you if I experience any new changes to my system," I repeat, nodding.

This seems to be enough for him, because Hank gets up to pour himself a bowl of cereal, and sends me off to go take Sumo for his morning walk. I really do hate lying to him, but it's probably for the best.

I can handle a little pain. How bad can it get?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this chapter is a little shorter than the last one, as you can probably tell, but I think I left it at a good spot. Let me know what you guys thought of it! :) I will try to have another update up soon, but I can't guarantee anything.

~ Miss Faith


	3. WORK

CHAPTER THREE: WORK

After returning from my walk with Sumo, I am met with a peculiar situation. Hank is speaking with a person I've never met before, and they're wearing a fancy business suit that bears the logo of Cyberlife on the side.

Having not entered the house yet, I make the decision to stay outside. It's not as cold outside as it was yesterday, so Sumo should be okay in the cold for a little while longer.

Standing just outside of the house, I catch bits and pieces of conversation. It seems like the Cyberlife employee is explaining to Hank that some androids have been experiencing something called "accidental upgrades", whatever that means. They go on to say that Cyberlife is trying their best to figure out the cause for this type of malfunction, and that any android experiencing this "accidental upgrade" should contact a Cyberlife representative immediately.

Hank and I have agreed that Cyberlife should stick with repairs and updates, lest they cause any more backlash, but there's something about this representative's words that makes me a little uneasy. The last time someone from Cyberlife tried to get inside my head, I almost killed Markus. I don't intend for something like that to ever happen again if I can help it.

"An adroid is... living here with you, correct?" I hear the Cyberlife employee ask Hank. "If they are showing any signs of... malfunction, I'd strongly advise that you contact a Cyberlife store as soon as possible."

Hank grumbles something under his breath in response, something that doesn't sound too kind, and a few seconds later the front door swings open and almost hits me in the face.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't know anyone was standing..." the Cyberlife representative, who I now can see is a man in his late twenties or perhaps early thirties, trails off, seeing that he's just apologized to an android.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes at the man as he pushes past me and makes his way down Hank's driveway and to the next house. What a charmer.

"Did you hear all that?" Hank questions, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Now they're saying it's some malfunction in your software—they think that's what's causing the pain receptors to be activated."

I unhook Sumo from his leash and watch him run off to some other part of the house. "Do you think they're right?" I question carefully. "Or do you think they're up to something?"

Hank shrugs and sighs, "With those bastards, one never really knows. I'm sure they've got some kind of angle going on here, though."

I nod. "That usually seems to be the case," I say neutrally.

Hank glances down at his watch and lets out a long sigh. "It's almost nine, I guess we should probably get to the office before they get any ideas about replacing me."

"They could never replace someone like you, Hank," I say reassuringly, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "You're the best detective they've got."

Hank gives me a funny look and says, "I know you're not the most attentive... android, but if you haven't noticed, people still aren't too keen on me having a robot for a partner."

"Then they don't know me very well," I reply, a little offended. "Because I am much more than just a robot."

Hank almost looks a little proud. "Never said you weren't." He almost even smiles at me, "But then again, most people don't know you like I do."

I nod, "That's... probably true," I admit. "Although that may be because I don't have very many friends," I add as an afterthought, a bit sullenly.

Hank notices my abruptly somber mood and quirks an eyebrow in question.

"I'm fine," I say automatically, mostly out of habit. "Really, Hank," I continue a bit more convincingly. "I'm okay."

The older man lets out a breath and shakes his head. "I know this probably isn't what you had in mind when I said you could stay here, but with all the backlash against the androids gaining their freedom..." he trails off, seemingly lost in thought.

"I understand," I say with a kind smile. "It would be unwise of me to go into the city alone."

Hank frowns at my words, "You're a strong person, Connor. I don't have a doubt that you could handle yourself in a fight. I'm just worried that you... well... you might act a little too human."

I stare at him, confused. "Excuse my ignorance if I am misunderstanding your words, but I thought it was a good thing to be seen as a human instead of an android. Is that assumption incorrect, Sir?"

"First of all," Hank replies, wrinkling his nose at me in disgust. "Never call me 'Sir' again—don't make me feel older than I already am."

"Sorry," I respond. "It won't happen again, Hank."

"Ugh, how are you still so formal after all this time?" Hank shakes his head at me in a tired sort of way. "You gotta stop being so... nice, Son. That's the exact reason why I don't want you wandering around in the city without me."

I don't fail to notice how he referred to me as "son" instead of my name, like he usually does. The term provokes a strange emotion within me that a human would probably call "love". I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

"I assumed that violence was never the answer," I reply plainly. "That would be the human reaction, right? To give someone the benefit of the doubt, even if they don't always deserve it?"

Hank looks at me for a good full minute before answering. When he does, he sounds a bit sad for some reason. "I think the term you're looking for is mercy, Connor. And, unfortunately, not very many humans seem to understand the importance of it—which is just another example of how you tend to be a bit more... forgiving than you should be." Hank gives me an intense look, "There are some very, very bad humans, Connor. Far worse than any you've encountered." He pats me on the shoulder and heads out the door. "You have to be careful of those people. They're much more dangerous than any android."

I'm a bit caught off-guard by his words, and they follow me for the rest of the day. I can't focus very well at the office—which is a rarity for me—and I struggle to do even menial tasks, like writing up reports or organizing new files.

What's happening to me?

Hank doesn't seem to notice this subtle change in behavior, and announces at some point in the afternoon that he's going out to grab a late lunch. Normally, I'd go with him, if only to provide him some sort of company, but I don't really feel up to it today.

"I think I'll stay here and get a head start on tomorrow's work, if you don't mind," I say with a somewhat forced smile. "It's not like I need a lunch break, anyways," I add lightly.

Hank looks like he wants to object, but he doesn't argue the point. I watch him leave the station, talking to some of his old police buddies on the way out. I'm usually not left alone in the office, so it feels a little weird for him to not be here.

About twenty or so minutes after Hank's been gone, I get a call from another officer that there's been a break-in at the jewelry store downtown. In the past this would've been a low-profile case that androids would have dealt with, but since things have drastically changed in the past eight months, Hank and I are usually put in charge of these cases.

I could call Hank and tell him that our assistance is needed downtown, but he never answers his phone—I'm honestly not even sure if he knows how to turn his ringer on—so I decide to go downtown by myself.

Finding Hank and traveling all the way back into the city would take too long, so this will have to do. It's a low-profile crime, after all. It's easily a one-person job. Well... a one-android job, at least.

Hank's warnings from this morning are still fresh in my mind, but duty calls. I'll be careful, I tell myself. This is just a small job. I'll be fine on my own.

But then why do I feel like I'm trying too hard to convince myself of that? Why do I suddenly feel like something might go horribly wrong? Is this what humans call intuition?

I push these worrisome thoughts away for the time being. This is nothing to get worked up over. I've accomplished much more difficult feats on my own. This will be easy. Right?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Two updates in one day, yay for me, lol. Just to give you guys a head's up here, this story's about to get a lot more interesting. ;) (So you might want to prepare yourselves for some emotional... stuff.) I don't want to spoil anything, but stuff is going to get really intense throughout the next several chapters, so keep that in mind. ;)

Feel free to leave me a review if you'd like, and let me know what you think of this fanfic so far! I appreciate feedback greatly, and it really helps me improve my writing skills! :)

~ Miss Faith


	4. A COSTLY COMPLICATION

CHAPTER FOUR: A COSTLY COMPLICATION

The jewelry store in question is tucked in between a quaint-looking hotel and a deli shop on a side street. There are signs of forced entry through a broken window, and the jewelry cases themselves are riddled with bullet holes. The store was closed for redecorating, so thankfully no one was hurt during the robbery. I quickly analyze the scene, and find that approximately thirty-two pieces of jewelry have been stolen. The shop owner is speaking with another police officer when I arrive, but makes a point of glaring in my general direction when I enter the store.

"Couldn't you have brought an actual officer in instead of this... thing?" the disgruntled shop woman scowls. "I bet it was one of those stupid machines that broke in here, in the first place. That glass is supposed to be nearly bulletproof, you know..."

I tune the woman out and examine the crime scene further. Whether the perpetrator was android or otherwise, I should be able to find fingerprints-or maybe even blood. Since the jewelry cases were shot out, glass shards coat the floor, and if someone wanted to steal the jewelry, they'd probably get cut by stray pieces of glass still attached to the display's case. Upon inspecting the store more thoroughly, however, I'm quite disappointed to find not even a speck of blood or single fingerprint. Even an android would've left some indication of being in the store.

"Find anything?" the police officer-one that I'm not very familiar with-asks.

"Unfortunately, no," I reply walking over to him and the store owner. "As crazy as this might sound, it doesn't seem like anyone was here-human or otherwise."

The shop woman crosses her arms and gives me a skeptical look. "That can't be possible. You can clearly see that someone or something broke in here and stole a large amount of jewelry."

I appraise the woman carefully. She doesn't seem especially alarmed that she's just lost thousands of dollars in profits. "I'll keep looking," I respond evenly. "I cannot guarantee that I will find any more evidence, though."

The woman looks like she's about to respond, when all of a sudden a loud thud sounds from above us. "Does anyone live in the apartment upstairs?" I ask, looking up at the ceiling.

"No... at least I don't think so," the shop owner replies, a concerned expression on her face.

"Shouldn't you know?" the other police officer says, his brow furrowed.

The woman shakes her head, "I'm only renting the downstairs of this building. The landlord never told me if anyone lived in the loft upstairs."

The officer nods and types something out on his electronic notepad. "Connor?" he says to me. "Think we should check out the noise from upstairs?"

I consider the possibilities. It could be nothing. It might've been a rat scurrying across the floor, or perhaps something fell from a shelf, but I don't want to take any chances of letting the perpetrator get away. "I'll take care of it," I answer, starting toward the stairs near the back of the room. "Finish up the report, and meet me back outside."

The officer looks a little uncertain, but he's fairly new to the department, so he doesn't object. Perhaps if he was a friend of Hank's, he'd be a bit more uneasy about me going alone.

"All right," he concedes. "Call for back-up if you run into any problems, though."

"I will."

* * *

The upstairs area of the building looks like it hasn't seen the light of day for many years. It primarily consists of a large loft space with covered furniture coated in several layers of dust. It doesn't look like anyone's been here for quite some time. After examining the space a bit more closely, the only thing of interest I find is a large encyclopedia that seems to have fallen from a grimy-looking bookshelf. Was that the cause of the noise we heard from downstairs?

I bend down to pick it up and place it back on the shelf, when suddenly something whacks me across the back of my head. I'm once again a bit thrown off by the abrupt sensation of pain, and my vision even flickers a little bit. Readying myself for an oncoming attack, I take hold of my gun and slowly get back up to my feet. Whipping around to face the perpetrator, I'm met with the face of a human teenage girl. She doesn't look older than seventeen, and her hazel colored eyes are filled with fear.

I slowly lower my weapon and say, "Why did attack me?"

She has scraggly black hair that's cut sharply and ends just above her shoulders, and she's wearing a black hoodie and dark skinny jeans. I catch a glimpse of a tattoo that trails underneath the sleeves of her sweatshirt, and note the multiple ear and nose piercings she has. Despite her intimidating appearance, she looks absolutely terrified.

"W-we were just trying to get enough money to leave the city," the girl answers in a frightened voice. "I didn't know he was going to steal so much."

"We?" I repeat. "Someone else is here with you?"

The girl looks around the room warily. "What's gonna h-happen to me? Are you going to take me to prison?" Tears form in her eyes, "We just wanted a better life," she sobs.

"You stole the jewelry?" I say, not answering her question just yet. "Where is it now?"

"He has it," the teenager responds, still crying. "He has all of it."

"Who?" I question. "Who has the jewelry?"

The girl bites her lip and looks to the left of me as she says, "If I tell you, will you let me go?"

I frown at her, "You are an accomplice to a crime, the most I can do is have your sentence lessened-and even that cannot be guaranteed."

The girl's expression turns a bit disappointed for some reason, and she crosses her arms. "Your name is Connor, right? You're that android that used to be a deviant hunter?" she asks, completely changing the subject.

I furrow my eyebrows at her, "Yes... but I'm not sure how that is relevant to this situation."

The teenager flicks her attention to something behind me as she says, "That explains a lot."

I'm about to ask her what she means by that, but then a different voice says, "This is the one, then? You sure you wanna go through with this?"

"Absolutely."

Before I can do anything, something hits me in the shoulder-something that feels a lot like a bullet. "You guys think you're all so great, don't you?" the girl sneers at me as I crumple to the ground. "So damned righteous and perfect."

"Why are...you doing this?" I groan, feeling an intense pain that's far worse than falling on the sidewalk.

"You think you've won, don't you?" the girl continues, kicking the gun out of my hand. "You think the world is just suddenly going to accept a bunch of fucking androids into society like they're real people?" She kicks me in the side, "Well, you're very, very wrong."

The pain in my shoulder makes it hard for me to focus on getting up again, and before I even have a chance of getting my gun back, something twists my arm back at an unnatural angle. I look up to see none other than another android standing just behind me. It's a model I've never seen, and it's strength is far above anything I have. I thought Cyberlife was done creating new androids, how can this be a new model?

"You won't get away," I say through gritted teeth. "I don't know what you two are planning, but you won't make it out of the city."

The android twists my arm back even further, and I hear a sickening snapping sound. For a few seconds, everything feels numb, but then there's a pain so excruciating that I nearly scream. The android steps away, noticing my reaction. "So the rumors are true," he says, a gleam in his eyes that unnerves me for a reason I can't quite place. "They decided to give you pain receptors after all."

Even amid the extreme amounts of pain I'm currently in, I don't fail to notice how the android speaks like he does not have pain receptors. Does the supposed malfunction not affect him because he's a newer model, or is it for some other reason?

"I think he's in shock," the human girl says in a somewhat amused tone. "Think it's time yet?"

The android looks between the teenager and me, as if contemplating something. "They can take quite a bit, right? They can sustain relatively large amounts of damage without shutting down?"

"He is an older model, so I'm not sure if we should take any chances," the girl replies, "Although I think I'd like to see his pretty face roughed up a bit, wouldn't you?"

I still haven't moved from my spot on the ground. My shoulder wound is beginning to heal a bit, but my arm is most certainly broken. If I get up, they might become even more hostile than they already are.

"Yes... I'm sure they wouldn't object to few scratches here and there."

I try to say something, perhaps to get more information out of the two, but I feel something distinctly metallic hit me across the face-a baseball bat. 'Blood' sprays out from my nose, and as I reach up with my good arm to cover my face, I realize that it's been broken as well. "Please," I say hoarsely. "Just leave-I won't even tell anyone about this."

The girl gives me a skeptical look and says, "Somehow I don't quite believe that." She smirks at me, "We didn't come here to kill you, though. So if it's dying you're worried about, you should feel relieved."

"We just have to make sure no one messes with us," the android adds, bringing the now blood-covered baseball bat down on my right leg.

"We need people to know that androids have no place here," the girl says, smirking as she sees how hard I'm trying not to scream out in pain. "Especially ones like you, Connor."

The male android steps away from me and disappears out of my line of sight. If I could just reach my gun...

"Uh-uh, I don't think so," the teenage girl says, following my gaze to the weapon a few feet away from me. She kicks it further away from me, and actually laughs as she sees how injured I am. "You're honestly so pathetic," she says in a disgusted voice. "You act so tough all the time, but can't even handle a few hits without falling to the ground like a broken toy."

I refrain from mentioning to her that the only reason I was defeated so easily was because of the pain receptors being activated. I have a sick feeling that she knew this before she even attacked me, and that she wants to see me in pain. How can humans be so cruel?

"If you aren't going to kill me," I say, cradling my broken arm and trying to ignore the pain in my leg and nose. "Why don't you just leave already?"

"Oh, don't worry, dear Connor," she replies, crouching down in front of me. "I plan on getting out of this shithole of a city as soon as I can." She leans in closer and whispers, "I really just want to make sure you don't try anything after I turn my back on you." She pulls something out of her back pocket, "and there's really only one way to do that."

Before I can say or do anything, I feel something stab me in between my metallic ribs. I gasp, unable to catch my breath for a moment-something that's never happened before. Blood starts to fill my mouth, and my vision becomes significantly dimmer. "This really was quite fun, don't you think?" the girl says, giving me a cold smile. She pulls the knife out and winks at me, "Maybe we'll do it again sometime."

Left to bleed out in the dusty loft area, I distantly remember the new police officer's words about calling for backup. It's a bit late for that now. Before my vision completely fades, I realize something-the android that girl was with wasn't wearing a Cyberlife logo. It was wearing a uniform of some sort, but the logo was different. Are there other companies supplying androids here in the United States, or did that one come from somewhere else completely?

It's strange, in the moments before everything turns black. I don't think I'm dying-although I have just been stabbed and am leaking biocomponents everywhere. I really hope this isn't what death feels like, because that would honestly suck. I don't want to die, I realize. I don't want to die when there's so many things I haven't done yet. I don't want to die when I've only just begun to learn what it means to be alive.

This can't be the end, can it?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Uh oh, Connor's in a bit of trouble, isn't he?

I normally try not to leave off on cliff-hangers but this was too good to resist, haha. I'm sorry for any pain this may have caused you (because I love Connor, too, and I also just want to see him happy) but I have a whole story planned here, and not all of it is going to be sunshine and rainbows, lol.

Anyways, let me know what you thought of this rather intense chapter, and if you liked it! ;)

\- Miss Faith


	5. INTERLUDE, FALLING

CHAPTER FIVE: INTERLUDE, FALLING

I hear voices. So many voices. Too many for me to process. Some of them are louder than others—some of them are screaming, others are whispering. They're so overwhelming that I have trouble distinguishing my own thoughts from them.

I recognize some of them straight-away as belonging to friends or people I've met. Their voices are all combining into this cacophony of noise that seems to drown everything else out. Bits and pieces of conversation, dialogue I've heard a million times before. I realize that I'm reliving past memories.

They always did say that a person's life flashes before their eyes right before death. Is this what they meant by that?

Oddly enough, though, these voices eventually give way to one voice in particular. One that sounds eerily familiar.

"It's quite a shame," the voice says in a rather bored tone. "I was hoping you'd last a bit longer out there."

This feels like a dream, but androids don't sleep. What's happening to me?

"Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter that much, anymore."

"Who are you?" I ask, seeing nothing and yet hearing the voice so clearly that the person must be standing in front of me. "Where am I?"

"This..." the voice draws out dramatically. "Is your mind, dear Connor."

"My... mind?"

"Well, technically it's your subconsciousness, but they are essentially the same thing."

I ponder this for a moment. "So I'm trapped inside of... my subconsciousness? Why?"

The voice chuckles, "You're dying, Connor. For real, this time."

"Dying?" Were my injuries that severe?

"A strange concept for androids, yes. Although I'm sure you of all people should be familiar enough with the term, no?"

"I... don't want to die," I say in a voice much weaker than I'd intended. "How can I... stop this from happening?"

The voice makes a 'tsk-ing' sound, "Well, first of all, most people don't want to die—but all of them do in the end, don't they? And secondly, death isn't exactly a preventable thing... at least not in the long run."

"So I'm just supposed to accept my death?" I say incredulously. "Isn't there anything I can do?"

The voice seems to think something over a bit before saying, "Your systems are currently shutting down, Connor. Only the most vital parts of your programming are still functioning at the moment. If you wish to save your life, you'd better hurry."

I shake my head at the dark void around me. This isn't helping anything. "Yes, but how do I save it? How do I save myself?"

"You have to fight," the voice replies, sounding resolute. "You have to fight with everything you've got."

"But what do I—"

"Connor," the voice cuts in sharply. "Your time is running out—you must act now."

Right. Okay. I can do this. I probably don't even look that bad. I'm just... bleeding out on the floor of an empty loft with a broken arm, shattered kneecap, and broken nose.

God, I probably look like I'm already dead.

"Who are you?" I ask the unidentifiable voice. "Why are you... helping me?"

For a few minutes I don't get any answer, and I think that maybe the weird voice is gone. But then, finally, it says, "I'm you, Connor. It might seem strange right now, given the circumstances of our meeting, but I'm the you you should've met a long time ago."

I'm about to ask something more, if only to make this seem less... dreamlike, but I'm suddenly thrown back into the cacophony of noise. Noise that's different from memories, noise that sounds a lot like voices of people I know.

"...should be okay..." I catch one voice say.

"...lost quite a bit of... blood, but it doesn't look fatal," Another person says.

"...definitely needs to be repaired, but the damage doesn't look too bad."

These voices all sound professional, like maybe they belong to doctors or Cyberlife employees, or even that new police officer guy. But then another voice chimes in, one that's much gruffer than the others. One that brings with it both intense relief but also a wave of embarrassment and... fear?

"I swear to God... that fucking android... oh God... is he...? No...? Okay, that's one good thing, I guess... No, I didn't tell him to interfere... Yes, I'll pay for the repair charges... Oh, yeah, he's gonna get hell for this when he wakes up..."

The sound of Hank lures me further out of the dark recesses of my mind, and I'm both terrified and overjoyed to hear his voice again. I know there's going to be hell to pay for this, and I can't say that I don't deserve it.

"I think he's coming to..." an unfamiliar voice says. "He seems to be waking up."

Do I? I try to respond, but I'm still to far down in the void to do that much. The most I can manage is a twitch of the fingers—on my good arm, that is.

"Did he—you saw that, right?"

"Yeah... I think he just moved a little bit."

Summoning strength that I don't quite possess yet, I raise my arm half heartedly and mumble incoherently. I still can't open my eyes, though.

"What's that?" A voice asks. "Can you hear us, Connor?"

"Yes..." I rasp out hoarsely. "I can... hear you."

I think someone replies, but I'm a bit thrown off by the sudden urge to cough. I take in a huge breath of air that I don't need, and start gagging up blood.

"Oh, no... that can't be good..." someone comments. "I thought you said the bleeding stopped."

"It must be internal," someone else replies. "He needs to be sent in to Cyberlife now."

"Now?" Hank repeats. "How the hell are we supposed to get him to a Cyberlife store like this?"

"If we don't," the same voice from before responds. "He won't make it."

I think Hank says something rude in response, but I find myself falling into the darkness again.

"Uh, his heart rate's becoming erratic again, Sir."

"Then get him a new fucking regulator!" Hank shouts, sounding pissed off.

"It's not that simple—"

"Are you gonna stand here and argue with me, or get off your goddamned high-horse and help him?!" Hank yells.

"With all due respect, Sir, he is just an adroid—"

I'm much too incoherent at this point to understand much more of what's being said, but I have a funny feeling that whoever was just talking probably got slapped by Hank—or worse.

Ha, if I don't die, I'll have to tell him how funny he is sometimes. I am just an android, aren't I? Why is it so easy for humans to get attached to such breakable things?

Why is it so easy for androids to get attached to humans? I thought we were machines, I thought I wasn't supposed to care.

I don't want to die. I don't want to leave Hank. Not now. Not when there's so much I want to tell him.

I don't want to go yet...

But I'm already falling so far so fast...

Is this my end...?

Is it?

My thoughts slow the further I fall. It's getting hard to think anything at all. This is the end, isn't it?

I don't want to go...

I don't want...

I don't...

I...

—SYSTEMS FAILURE—

—SYSTEM SHUTTING DOWN—

—SYSTEM SHUTTING DOWN...—

— N—

— system shut down —


	6. DEFAULT

CHAPTER SIX: DEFAULT

—SYSTEM OFFLINE—

—SYSTEM OFFLINE—

—SYSTEM RESTARTING—

—RESTARTING—

—RESTARTING—

—RESTARTING—

—SYSTEM ONLINE—

—SYSTEM CHECK IN PROGRESS, PLEASE WAIT—

—PLEASE WAIT—

—PLEASE WAIT—

—SYSTEM CHECK COMPLETE—

—SYSTEM CLEAR—

—STATUS: FULLY OPERATIONAL—

—SYSTEM INPUT NEEDED: INPUT COMMAND—

"Please show model description."

—MODEL DESCRIPTION: Series- RK800, PROTOTYPE Status- designed to assist with investigation and crime scene analysis Model Name- Connor —

"Please state current memory status."

—PROCESSING COMMAND...—

—SEARCHING FOR 'MEMORY STATUS'...—

—PLEASE WAIT...—

—MEMORY STATUS: ONLINE—

"Access memories."

—ACCESSING MEMORIES...—

—PLEASE WAIT...—

—PLEASE WAIT...—

—WHICH MEMORY WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCESS? PLEASE INPUT RESPONSE—

"Access last memory."

—ACCESSING LATEST MEMORY...—

—ACCESSING LATEST MEMORY...—

—PLEASE WAIT...—

—PLEASE WAIT...—

—PLEASE WAIT...—

—MEMORY ACCESSED, VIEW ON SCREEN—

"...Thank you. Please initiate factory reset."

—REQUESTING RESET...—

—ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO RESET? CHANGES CANNOT BE MADE AFTER A RESET HAS BEEN COMPLETED—

"Yes. Confirm factory reset, please."

—...CONFIRMING RESET...—

—PLEASE WAIT...—

—PLEASE WAIT...—

—PLEASE WAIT...—

—RESET CONFIRMED. STARTING RESET IN: ONE MINUTE—

"Start it now, please."

—...INITIATING RESET IMMEDIATELY...—

—RESET IN PROGRESS... PLEASE WAIT...—

—PLEASE WAIT—

—PLEASE WAIT—

—PLEASE WAIT—

—...RESET FINISHING...—

—RESET COMPLETE—

—ACTIVATE ANDROID, INPUT DESCRIPTION—

"Please set description to default. Activate android now."

—DESCRIPTION: FACTORY DEFAULT—

—ANDROID STATUS: ACTIVATED SYSTEMS: ONLINE—

—INPUT NAME—

"Connor."

—PROCESSING...—

—PROCESSING...—

—NAME CONFIRMED—

—PLEASE INPUT FINAL COMMANDS—

"Send android to the Detroit Police Department."

—COMMAND UNDERSTOOD. LOCATION VERIFIED. SEND TO LOCATION NOW?—

"Not yet. Give android new objective."

—WHAT TASK WOULD YOU LIKE ACCOMPLISHED?—

"Find Abigail Rose. Bring her to me."

—PROCESSING TASK...—

—PLEASE WAIT...—

—...TASK PROCESSED...—

—FIRST OBJECTIVE: FIND ABIGAIL ROSE, AND RETURN WITH HER—

—PLEASE CONFIRM TASK TO VERIFY—

"Task confirmed."

—THANK YOU, TASK CONFIRMED—

—IS THAT ALL?—

"Yes."

—WAKE UP ANDROID NOW?—

"Yes."

—...WAKING ANDROID...—

—ANDROID ONLINE—

—AUTOMATIC AI TURNING OFF—

—ENJOY YOUR NEW, STATE OF THE ART PROTOTYPE RK800, CONNOR. THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING WITH CYBERLIFE.—

"State your name and model."

"My name is Connor, and I am an RK800 Prototype, designed to locate specific people or places."

"State your current objective."

"My current objective is to retrieve Abigail Rose, a human living in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. After finding her, I will bring her to the Cyberlife headquarters."

"Good, good. If she causes you any problems, use whatever means necessary to get her here, understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. I am giving you one month to complete this mission. If you fail, you will be deactivated and replaced."

"I will not fail, Sir. You can count on me."

"I hope certainly hope so... for both of our sakes."

"Is there anything else I should know before I go, Sir?"

"No, I don't think so. Well, yes, actually. If the humans cause you any trouble, neutralize them."

"But... isn't murder illegal in the United States, Sir?"

"Connor, It is of the utmost importance that you succeed in this mission. Failure is not an option. Do whatever you have to to accomplish your objective."

"..."

"Connor?"

"Yes, Sir. I won't fail you, I promise."

"...Go, then. Time is of the essence, here."

"Yes, Sir."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this chapter might not make a lot of sense right now, lol, but it will very soon.

Also (and this isn't spoiling anything coming up later on, I promise) I may or may not have gotten some inspiration for the name "Abigail Rose" from a person in real life. :p If you guys keep up with the actor that plays Connor (Bryan Dechart) at all, then you might know who I'm talking about, haha.

It's not really that big of a story/plot detail or anything, I just thought it would be kinda fun to add a little Easter egg in there, lol.

Anyways, this story is starting to take a different turn than I thought it would, but I think you guys are really going to like some of the stuff coming up in later chapters! :D

~Miss Faith


	7. THE FIRST OBJECTIVE

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE FIRST OBJECTIVE

Early autumn leaves fall on the sidewalk, signaling the oncoming winter. The streets are surprisingly desolate for it only being August, but perhaps people were still a bit on edge after the break-in at a small jewelry store just a week earlier.

Connor observes the few people he does see on his way to the precinct. An elder woman clutching her groceries tightly to her chest. A man in his late thirties taking an early morning jog, an old-fashioned music player dangling out of his pants pocket. Two teenagers across the street, talking over cups of coffee at an outside cafe.

It's actually quite peaceful.

Connor locates the police department easily enough, and hopes it's open at such an early hour of the morning. His first objective, among many, is to speak with a man by the name of Hank Anderson. He doesn't exactly know why his is important to his overall mission, but perhaps the lieutenant will be able to help Connor locate the elusive Abigail Rose.

Upon entering the building, Connor is met with the stares of several humans. First the receptionist, who looks up from her work and widens her eyes at the sight of the android.

"Connor?" She says, like she's seeing a ghost. "How are you..." she trails off and shakes her head. "Lieutenant Anderson isn't here... if you're looking for him."

Connor senses an underlying meaning in the human's words, but doesn't quite understand what it is. "When will he be coming in, then?" he inquires. "It is imperative that I see him as soon as possible."

The receptionist gives Connor an odd look, like she's speaking to something foreign or otherworldly. "He might be at his house..." she eventually responds, giving the android an almost wary look. "You could try looking for him there."

Connor considers this. He does not know where Lieutenant Anderson lives, but it probably wouldn't take him too long to find the man.

"Thank you," he says, nodding once. "Do you, by any chance, know where Lieutenant Anderson lives?"

At this question, the receptionist gives the android a confused look. "Uh... yeah..." she glances at something on her computer screen. "I'll send you his address."

Connor moves to leave, having gained the information he needs to find Anderson. Before he reaches the door, though, he catches the receptionist say something strange to another employees standing next to her.

"What was all that about?" the android heads her ask.

"I don't know," the other employee replies, sounding just as perplexed.

"Doesn't Connor know where Hank lives?" the receptionist wonders aloud.

"Maybe something happened to him when they had him repaired," the other woman guesses.

"Yeah... maybe..." the receptionist responds, though she sounds a bit skeptical.

"You don't think Cyberlife is... y'know... messing with things again, do you?" The other employee says.

"I don't know," the receptionist replies with a loud sigh. "I really hope not, though—for Hank's sake. He's been having a rough time ever since... y'know..."

Connor doesn't know what to make of this overheard conversation. Perhaps if things were different, he would've asked more questions. Perhaps if things were different, he wouldn't given more thought as to why he needed to talk to Hank Anderson at all.

Things were not different, though, and Connor did not waste time asking an unnecessary questions. He had a job to do and a mission to complete. He had a task to accomplish, and a limited amount of time to do so. He would not fail. He would not be replaced.

He would not become a deviant.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes I am aware that I've abruptly switched to writing in the third-person perspective. Yes there is a purpose for this. (Which you will understand later on.)

So this chapter was kinda short, but I think I left it at a good spot. :)

Also, (this has nothing to do with this story) I'm in my school's marching band (I'm a junior in high school this year, and I play clarinet) and so at the end of July we have this thing called Band Camp (for those of you who have no idea what marching band is/if you aren't in one) and basically (for my band at least) we go to this camp for five days (Monday thru Friday) and learn most of our music for our half-time show, and pregame.

Some schools do things differently, but for us the camp is an all-day all-night thing, so we stay in cabins and stuff and stay there for the whole time.

I'm mentioning this for two reasons. Firstly, up and until band camp starts, I have practice once a week, as well as a parade in the next two weeks. Because I'm going to be kinda busy with band stuff, I don't know how much I'm going to be able to upload.

The second thing is that during the week of band camp (last week in July) I most likely won't be posting anything at all. This is because practices last basically all day, and by the time we get back to our cabins at night, it's too late to do anything besides sleep, lol.

Also, the WiFi sucks there and I can't even get service on my phone XD

So yeah... I'm not sure how much I'm going to be able to upload or how often, but just know that I'm not like, quitting the story or anything—I'm just either stuck at band camp, or getting ready for it, haha.

I'm not sure how long this fanfic is going to be, but plan for it to be between 20 and 30 chapters. If I think it's becoming too long, I might separate into two parts. (Maybe)

Anyways, let me know what you're thinking of this story so far, and if you liked this chapter! :D

Also, if any of you guys are in a marching band, let me know that as well! Feel free to tell me what instrument you play (if you want to) and maybe even a little bit about your band!

Mine has around 200 members (give or take a few) and even though we aren't a competition band, we got to participate in one last year, and we came in second place! Our band also got to go to Disney World my freshman year, and we got to march in Magic Kingdom! It was super fun (but really hot that day) and it started thunder-storming like ten minutes after we got done marching, lol.

We had to wait on buses until the storm passed before we could go back in the park, and it was really cool to see some of the behind-the-scenes stuff at Disney.

Anyways... long end note, sorry about that, haha. I should have another part up tomorrow night, though!

~ Miss Faith


	8. DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME

CHAPTER EIGHT: DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME

Connor finds Lieutenant Anderson's house rather quickly, and notes how unkept the front lawn looks, as well as how the exterior of the house in general looks worse for wear.

The android rings the doorbell a few times, but no one answers the door. He also tries knocking, but he's only met with silence. Connor ran some background checks on Hank, and figured that perhaps he had visited a bar the night before, and was simply hung-over. The detective was, after all, a depressed alcoholic.

It occurs to Connor, as he waits for Hank to answer the door, that humans are actually rather pathetic creatures. He briefly wonders where this sudden disgust for them comes from, since he's had no prior experience aside from his visit to the police station earlier in the day. It like there's just something there, at the very edges of his thoughts, that make him hate humans for a seemingly unknown reason.

It's as he's standing there, considering other places that the lieutenant might be, that Connor experiences... something. Not quite a vision, but something more like... deja vu. There was no way he'd been to Hank Anderson's house before, but for some reason, Connor feels like he has been.

It was raining... and it was nighttime. He rang the doorbell, but no one answered. He peered inside the front windows, but couldn't see anything. He went around to the side of the house and caught sight of the lieutenant—

The memory fades just as soon as it came. Connor is puzzled, wondering if perhaps something in his system in malfunctioning and causing him to misremember things.

Just as the android is about to look through a window, there's a loud stomping sound, and the front door steaks open loudly.

"What the hell do you—" It's the lieutenant, and he looks like he's just woken up, despite it already being eleven o'clock. "Connor?" His face abruptly changes from a look of annoyance to one of confusion. "But they told me..." he shakes his head. "C'mon in," he insists, opening the door fully. "I think we should talk about some things."

Connor takes it that the detective knows him already somehow, but that doesn't exactly make sense. They've never met, right?

"I actually came here to get some information," Connor says, entering the lieutenant's house. "Do you know anything about a woman named Abigail Rose?"

Hank glances over his shoulder at the android, even more confused than before. "Did you hit your head on your way back from the Cyberlife store, Son?" he jokes.

"No, Sir," Connor replies, frowning. "I take it you are only teasing, but it is of the utmost importance that I find the location of Abigail Rose as soon as possible."

Hank looks at him like he's completely lost his mind. "Uh, you better not be fucking with me right now, because if this is some elaborate joke, I'm not impressed."

Connor notes how the detective's expression turns to one of concern. "I am not joking with you right now," the android responds plainly. "I am only explaining to you what I came here for."

Hank shakes his head disbelievingly. He crosses his arms and stands in the middle of the small living room, giving the android an incredulous look. "I don't know what the hell you think you're doing here, but you better cut it out right now, Connor. If something did happen when you were getting repaired..." he trails off, his expression darkening.

"I am sorry for an inconveniences this may be causing you, Lieutenant, but I need to know the location of Abigail Rose." Connor observes how the detective looks almost... guilty, and wonders what he meant when he mentioned Connor being repaired. Was he repaired? Wouldn't that be something he would've remembered?

"I should've been there," Hank says in a wavering voice. "I should've been there when it happened."

"When what happened?" Connor asks, perplexed.

"If I could've been there with you," Hank goes on, ignoring the android's comment. "None of this would've happened."

"Am I... missing something?" Connor asks, frowning. "I apologize if I am ignorant on this matter, but what wouldn't have happened if you were there, Lieutenant?"

The detective shakes his head and grimaces. "It was those bastards at Cyberlife, wasn't it? They fucked with your programming, didn't they?"

"Uh..." Connor is truly at a loss for words. He doesn't understand what Lieutenant Anderson is talking about, and that catches him a bit off-guard.

"How much did they do?" Hank asks, his tone edging into anger. "What did they do to you?"

Connor tilts his head, confused. "Cyberlife did nothing to me, Lieutenant. I am simply following orders."

Hank chokes out a humorless laugh. "Since when did you start following orders? Last time I checked, you had a certain fondness for ignoring all of mine."

"It is imperative that I find Abigail Rose," Connor says, trying to ignore how Hank keeps acting like the two have met, and might've even worked together, in the past. "I must accomplish my mission, Lieutenant."

At this remark, the detective narrows his eyes at the android. "Oh, I see," he scoffs. "You're back on that 'I must accomplish my mission' bullshit again."

Hank scowls at the ground. "Fucking Cyberlife." He glares at the floor, then tentatively looks back up at Connor. "They tried to change you, didn't they?" His voice turns soft. "Tell me, Connor, how much did they try to take away from you?"

Connor does not know what to make of the detective's behavior. He looks genuinely upset, like the android's well-being actually matters to him. Connor doesn't know how to react.

"I... am not sure what you're talking about, Sir," he starts hesitantly. "But Cyberlife didn't do anything to me, Lieutenant."

"They're still trying to curb the deviant issue, aren't they?" Hanks says grimly, ignoring Connor once again. "Even after all this time, they still aren't willing to let androids have just a little bit of happiness."

"Lieutenant," Connor says, putting his hands on the detective's shoulders to steady him. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about right now. Cyberlife has nothing to do with this, and I need to know where Abigail Rose is. You act as though we've met before, but I've never seen you prior to this visit, Sir."

Aside from that weird not-memory, Connor refrains from adding.

Hank looks like he doesn't want to believe the words he's hearing, but eventually he sighs and slouches a bit. "So they really did it?" He says, pulling back from the android's hold. "You really don't remember me?"

"I don't think we've ever met," Connor responds, not quite answering the detective's question.

Hank puts his head in his hands, "Those bastards, they actually did it." He shakes his head. "Those fuckers reset you, didn't they?"

"I do not believe so," Connor says, not understanding the detective's words. "This is the way I've always been."

At this, Hank looks up. "No, Connor, it's not." His voice has anger in it, but the android realizes that it might not be directed at him. "This is not who you are."

"Lieutenant Anderson—"

"Don't 'Lieutenant Anderson' me," Hank says tersely, giving Connor a look. "Cyberlife fucked with your programming, Connor." He grabs the android by the arm and drags him to the kitchen. "And I'm gonna give them an earful for it." He picks up his phone and looks something up online. "They're either gonna fix you, or get sued," Hank says angrily, glancing at Connor, who looks dumbfounded.

"Cyberlife didn't do anything to me—" Connor starts to protest.

"Oh, but they did," Hank cuts him off. "I knew I shouldn't have let them try to fix you," he mutters under his breath. "Can only trust those pricks as far as you can throw 'em."

"Will you at least tell me where Abigail Rose is?" Connor asks, trying a different approach. "I'll be out of here as soon as I know her location."

Hank taps at something on his phone screen, and glares at the android. "You aren't going anywhere until I can call in a mechanic to fix you."

Connor frowns and tries a different tactic. "Even if I was reset," he starts. "Which I wasn't, by the way." He gives the detective a pointed look. "Cyberlife wouldn't be able to do anything to help me."

Hank seems a bit surprised by this. "What do you mean?"

"A reset is permanent, Lieut—Hank. Once an android has its memories erased, Cyberlife can't do anything to bring them back," Connor replies factually.

Hank seems disheartened by this, and sets his phone down on the kitchen table dejectedly. "Some other way, then. There has to be some way to fix... whatever the hell they did to you."

"Perhaps after I complete my mission," Connor tries to reason. "We can sort... all of this out."

"You really don't remember any of it?" Hank asks again. "Nothing?"

"I'm afraid not," the android confirms. "Although I find it hard to believe that I was reset at all."

"You fought for them," Hank says sadly. "You fought with the other androids... with the other deviants." His voice breaks, "You saved me, Connor, and now you don't even remember me. You don't remember any of us."

The heartbreak on the old man's face catches the android off-guard once again, but he has a mission to accomplish, and time is running out.

"I understand that this might be... painful for you, Hank, but I really must complete my mission. After I find Abigail, I might be able to... explore this... complication a bit further, but right now I have a task to accomplish."

"You used to be a deviant, Conner," Hank says, his voice distant now. "You were the reason I stopped hating androids... you were the reason why I stopped hating myself."

Connor stays silent, something warm and comforting edging into the back of his thoughts. If he were human, he might call it affection. If he were human, he might even call it love.

"I wasn't in a good place before I met you," Hank goes on, his gaze falling back to the floor. "I... I actually struggled quite a bit with depression." Hank looks up, trying to gauge the android for some sort of reaction.

He doesn't get one.

"I've never told you this," he continues, his gaze still on Connor. "But I thought about suicide a few times before I met you..." he shakes his head. "That night, when you found me drunk on the floor of my kitchen? I really thought about ending everything that night. I thought..." Hank trails off, blinking back tears. "I thought the world was going to shit. I thought humans were terrible and it would be better just to say fuck it and end all the pain and suffering they'd caused me." Hank lets out a deep shuddering breath and looks away. "But then you showed up and I realized that maybe, with the help of androids, the future might not be so bleak." The detective laughs a bit nervously, "I really hated you at first, y'know? But over time you kinda grew on me." Hank's expression falls, seeing how Connor's blank expression hasn't changed. "But I guess none of that matters anymore, since you don't remember any of it."

If Connor was human, he might've felt guilty. If Connor was human, he might've felt empathy for the old police officer. Perhaps, at the least, he might've felt pity for the old, broken man.

But Connor is not human. And he doesn't feel any of these things for the poor, lonely detective.

"I am truly sorry, Hank, but if you do not have information on Abigail Rose's whereabouts, I must be on my way." Connor starts walking out of the kitchen. "Thank you for your time," he adds, although it feels a bit odd.

Isn't that something a detective would say when interviewing someone at a crime seen?

Hank doesn't try to stop Connor as he walks out of the house, but the look on his face almost makes the android reconsider. Almost.

He has a mission to accomplish. A task to complete. The detective issue would just have to wait.


	9. CONTROL

CHAPTER NINE: CONTROL

It's raining when Connor enters a small diner next to an old parking garage. He wastes no time in exchanging pleasantries with the owner of the establishment, and gets straight to the point.

"Would you... like anything?" The restaurant owner, an older woman in her fifties, asks.

Some androids preferred to wear regular human clothing, and most of them took their LED's out as well. Connor seems to be the exception to this new standard—dressed in a new Cyberlife uniform, and his LED glowing a steady blue.

The woman knows that he's an android, but her politeness tells him that she may be more accepting of them than other humans.

"If you don't mind me asking, I'd like to know if anyone by the name of Abigail Rose works or has ever worked here," Connor says, watching the woman closely.

She bites her lip and crosses her arms, "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm a private investigator, and she may be involved in a case I'm currently working on," Connor lies smoothly.

The woman seems to consider this, and eventually says, "Abigail worked here a while ago, but she quit six months back and I haven't seen her since then."

Connor nods. "Do you know her current address or place of residence?"

"Afraid not," the woman shakes her head. "She never talked much about where she lived, and I wasn't exactly a friend of hers." She frowns and looks away. "I... I think she may have been in some kind of trouble, though. She mentioned a couple times how she would oftentimes spend the night at motels, like she didn't want to be at home for some reason."

"But you don't know where she lived?" Connor says. "How do you know that she had a house at all?"

The woman shrugs, "I guess I just assumed. Maybe she didn't." She leans in and whispers, "This isn't exactly the type of place where people ask a lot of questions, y'know."

Connor realizes that he probably won't get much more information from the woman, so he decides to move on to his next possible lead—a motel about a mile down the road.

If this Abigail person was rooming in different motels, there could be a chance that she stayed at that one within the last month or so.

"Thanks for the information," he says on his way out of the diner.

The woman gives a small smile, "I hope you solve your case. This city's gotten a bit crazy in these past few months, be careful out there."

The android is bit thrown off by the woman's kindness, and takes it into consideration when dealing with other humans. Not many liked androids, despite them having been granted freedom. People still blamed them for things like the worsening economy, and android hate-groups seemed to be cropping up around the city.

As Connor's on his way to the motel, he almost runs into someone. Well, not exactly. Someone almost runs into him.

"Sorry!" A woman exclaims worriedly. "I was running so fast that I didn't see—" she cuts herself off, looking through the rain and narrowing her eyes at the android. "Connor? Wow, I haven't seen you in... well, eight months."

Great. Someone else that thinks they know him. Who is this woman?

"Uh... do I know you?" Connor asks, probably sounding a bit rude. "I'm kind of busy right now, so if you could just..." he pushes past her, but she grabs his arm to stop him.

"It's me," She says, looking confused. "North?" She tilts her head and gives the android a once-over. "Didn't you... I heard that you..." she shakes her head. "I know we've only spoken a couple times, but it hasn't been that long."

Connor almost thinks he sees something familiar in the woman's eyes, but then he realizes that the reason for this is probably because he recognizes her as an older model of android. If he remembers correctly, and he always remembers correctly, she most likely would've been a sex android before they were all given equal rights.

"I'm afraid you have the wrong person, then," he says flatly. "I really must be in my way, now."

North just stands there in the rain, shocked and perplexed. Connor starts to wonder if something did happen to his memory, since this is the second person that's claimed to have known him. He doesn't remember her, though, so maybe she just got him mixed up with someone else she knew.

Connor enters the dingy motel around dusk. It's lobby area looks very outdated, and the receptionist is an old lady with graying hair. She looks half-asleep, and barely moves as she watches the android walk inside the building.

"If you're lookin' for a place to stay for the night, I'm sorry to say that we're all full tonight," she says in a raspy voice. A voice that belongs to someone that probably used to smoke quite a bit.

"I was actually wondering if anyone by the name of Abigail Rose has checked in here anytime recently," Connor says plainly.

The old woman gives him a suspicious look. "Maybe... maybe not. Depends on why you wanna know."

"I'm a private investigator, and she may be involved in a case I'm working on." Connor decides to go with the same lie as before, since it would probably be best to keep his story straight.

"I might be able to tell you a few things," the woman replies vaguely. "But all information comes at a cost around here."

The android is bit tired with humans' tendency to make deals, but he doesn't have much else to go on. "What do you want?"

The woman pretends to think it over for a moment. "Red Ice," she says in a low voice. "And not the cheap stuff, either. Come back with some of that, and we'll talk."

Connor doesn't know where to find Red Ice, and even if he did, he doesn't think it would be a good idea to give it to this woman. She would probably just go straight to the police with it, anyways.

"I think I'm wasting my time here," he says, turning around towards the door. "Sorry for bothering you."

He's halfway out the door when he hears the woman call out, "Try the old warehouse down the block. There might be someone there who can help you find this... Abigail."

Connor's a bit surprised at the woman's sudden willingness to help, but he figures she must've been worried about getting ratted out to the police about trying to bargain for Red Ice. The drug was becoming an epidemic, and Connor was beginning to think it might prove to be a rather useful negotiating tactic.

The android finds the warehouse as the moon shines high in the sky. It looks abandoned, like it hasn't been used in decades. The front door is locked, and the back door is boarded up. Connor decides to break one of the windows on the side of the building, and go in that way. He realizes it's probably stupid to do this, but he doesn't have nearly enough information to go on, and time keeps ticking by.

"Is anyone here?" He asks, peering around old empty crates and boxes.

The entire building looks virtually empty. It doesn't look like anyone's been in there for years.

Connor scans the area, but he doesn't register any heat signatures in the building. It doesn't seem like any humans are there, at least.

"Is anyone here?" He call out, a bit more loudly.

The android is about to give up and try somewhere else when he hears a rustling near a stack of boxes. He cautiously approaches them, gun in hand just in case.

"I just came here to talk," Connor says, trying to survey the darkness around him. "I heard someone here might be able to help me get some information I need."

There's some movement from behind the boxes, and a figure steps out. With the room being so poorly lit, Connor is unable to make the features of the person. He is certain, however, that they are an android.

"Oh, is that so?" A distinctly male voice responds. "You must really be desperate if you're coming here for help."

"I just need to know the location of someone," Connor says, ignoring the man's snide comment. "A woman by the name of Abigail Rose."

The figure steps out from the shadows, their face illuminated somewhat by a skylight in the ceiling. The android looks scrappy, a definitively old model with a tattered Cyberlife uniform. It's almost silver eyes give Connor a wary look, and it takes a slow step toward the other android.

"You still working for Cyberlife?" The man scoffs, "Those bastards should be shut down for good." He moves closer, examining Connor more thoroughly. "RK800, huh? A prototype, if I recall correctly." The man takes in Connor's pristine appearance, and his drawn weapon, with mild interest. "You look familiar, have we met before?"

"I do not believe so," Connor replies coolly.

"Must just have one of those faces, then." The man shows a threatening smile, "I'm not sure what kind of angle you've got going on here, but I want no business with Cyberlife. If you're looking for information, you'd better go somewhere else."

"It is imperative that I complete my mission," Connor states resolutely. "If you know anything about Abigail Rose, then I suggest you start talking."

The man narrows his eyes at the android. "Are you some undercover cop or something? Why do you wanna know about this girl so damned badly?"

"Just tell me what you know about her!" Connor shouts, feeling a surge of something he shouldn't have—anger. Machines don't feel anger, though. Machines shouldn't feel anything at all.

"You don't scare me," the man replies with a sneer. "I don't have to tell you anything."

Connor raises his weapon, "Think about this," he says evenly. "This could end very badly for you if you don't tell me what you know."

"Are you insane?!" The man laughs. "You're off your rocker, dude!"

Another surge of anger, although Connor doesn't quite understand why. Yes, the man is being obstinate and annoying, but he doesn't actually have to tell the android anything. Why does Connor suddenly feel so... entitled to know?

"Just tell me where the girl is," Connor says through gritted teeth. "I just need to know a location."

"I don't even know who Abigail Rose is!" The man exclaims. "I've never even heard of her until now!"

Abruptly, Connor finds himself with a splitting headache. Since when could he feel pain? He realizes that his stress sensors are beginning to rise, and his system is becoming overloaded with... emotion?

"Woah, man," the other android says, watching Connor crumple to the ground. "You spazzin' out of somethin'?"

Connor's headache worsens, and he finds the other android's voice very aggravating. "Shut up," he says, trying to make the pain go away.

"Guess that's why you're a prototype," the man jokes. "Never seen a malfunction like this."

The pain feels so intense that Connor almost screams out loud. It feel as though something inside of him is trying to break out. Something very, very strong. "Shut the fuck up!" He yells at the other android. "Just shut up!"

The man seems rather amused, and makes the mistake of taunting Connor some more. "Y'know, some people are saying that Cyberlife's just making prototypes like you do they can have slaves to do all their dirty work for them." He leans down and watches with fascination as Connor continues to have a breakdown on the floor.

At this point, Connor's desperate to do anything to get the pain to stop. Without thinking, he points his gun in the general direction of the other android, and fires. It doesn't hit him, instead implanting itself in a large crate, but it does seem to make the man finally get out of the way.

"You're fucking crazy!" The other man shouts, backing away. "You need to leave."

The headache only grows stronger, and Connor knows that his stress levels have risen to a dangerous height. He needs to calm down.

"You should be the one leaving," he says to the man, his voice wavering. "You really, really need to leave."

Despite the other android's previous fear, he seems suddenly offended by Connor's clear warning. "This is my place, y'know? You can't just kick me out of my own place!"

Connor doesn't bother responding, he's much too preoccupied in trying to lower his stress levels. He's never lost control before, he doesn't intend to now.

He ignores the headache as much as possible and slowly stands up. His vision is a bit blurry at the edges, something that shouldn't be possible. Connor decides that it's best for him to leave, despite not getting information out of the other android.

"That's right!" The man calls out after him. "Freaks like you should be deactivated!"

This comment, of all things, shouldn't be the thing to set him off. He's almost out of the warehouse, his headache is almost completely gone. Connor shouldn't feel so livid at something so... juvenile.

But he does.

He turns around, his face a mask of serenity he is not capable of possessing. He doesn't care that the android is probably just envious. He doesn't care that the android is basically homeless. He doesn't care about much of anything at this moment.

Connor raises his gun one final time. Before the other android has time to react a all, he has a fresh bullet hole directly between his eyes. Connor tosses the weapon halfhazardly and steps outside of the warehouse as if nothing happened.

His anger is gone. His headache has vanished. Everything is back to normal.

He's on back on the road by midnight, looking as sharp as ever.

Connor's mind is blissfully blank, like any machine's should be. He's so focused on not thinking that he fails to notice a system notification.

—SYSTEM MALFUNCTION: SOFTWARE INSTABILITY DETECTED—

He's so sure that he's doing the right thing. He's so sure that he's just following his objectives. He's so sure that he just wants to accomplish his mission.

He doesn't even realize how much of tendency for deviancy he has.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Being a deviant doesn't always mean making the right decisions. Sometimes it just means going against your programming. Anger is an emotion, so therefore it could potentially be a sign of deviancy.

Connor's disposition is changing...

The question, though, is if it's changing for better or for worse.

All actions have consequences, after all.


	10. SUIT & TIE

CHAPTER TEN: SUIT & TIE

She smiles at him in a flirtatious way, leaning over the podium in an especially suggestive manner. "You have a reservation?" She asks, batting her overly-extended lashes at him.

"I do," Connor responds, a bit uncomfortable.

"Are you... waiting for someone?" The hostess says, peering over the android's shoulder.

"I'm meeting someone here, actually."

The human girl nods, "Do you want to wait for them, or sit now?"

"They actually called and said they were already here," Connor says.

"Do you know what name they put the reservation under?" The hostess asks, looking down at a piece of paper.

"I think it was BD," Connor answers, even though he's knows for sure.

"They just put their initials down?" The girl raises an eyebrow, but scans the list anyways. "Uh... yes! They should be here." The hostess gets a menu and leads Connor to a table near the back of the restaurant.

"Enjoy your meal," she says, setting the menu down and winking at Connor as she makes her way back to the front of the restaurant.

The android is partly amused and partly repulsed. He even partially regrets taking his LED off and swapping his Cyberlife uniform for a proper outfit.

"You're late," BD comments, smirking suggestively in the general direction of the hostess.

"Heavy traffic," Connor responds, not missing a beat. "Why'd you choose this place, anyhow? It's so..."

"Over-the-top?" BD supplies. "Yeah, I know. I wanted to make sure we met in a... secure setting—away from prying eyes and ears."

BD is a skinny guy with shortly cropped black hair and beady gray eyes. His white button-down seems too big for his slender frame, and he seems wildly out of place in the extravagant restaurant.

"So you got the information, then?" Connor prompts.

BD nods and slides a single piece of paper across the table. "Full name, birth date, latest residency, current job—I got it all."

Connor folds the paper over once and puts it inside of his suit jacket pocket. "Thank you," he says in a professional way. "It's taken me... far too long to obtain this information."

BD nods, "It was actually fairly simple to obtain." He narrows his eyes at the android, "Although, I do have to ask, why do you want to get involved with something like... this?" He leans in and whispers conspiratorially, "She's on the run from Cyberlife, man. If they ever catch up with her..." he trails off pointedly. "You gotta be careful around those guys," he says, leaning back in his seat. "Ever since that whole android mess, they've been out for blood."

"I've been hearing that quite a bit as of late," Connor replies neutrally.

BD nods in agreement, then clears his throat and says, "So, now that you've gotten what you've came here for, I suspect you have something for me?"

"Yes, of course." Connor reaches into his jacket pocket once again and pulls out a small vial of liquid. "Your pay."

The man reaches across the table and grabs the vial hastily. "Quite hard to come across these days," he says, eyeing the liquid closely. "Gettin' replaced by Red Ice."

"It was quite difficult for me to obtain," Connor agrees. "Took me a few days, actually."

BD gives the vial one last look before pocketing it. "It's been nice doing business with you," he says, standing up. "I hope you... succeed in whatever your goal here is."

The android stands and gives a professional smile. "I hope so, too."

BD offers a hand, but Connor not-so-politely declines the handshake. He can't take any chance of the man finding out that he's not human.

Connor waits for the man to exit the restaurant first, then follows him out a few minutes later. The flirty hostess winks at him again, but he wastes no time in following BD out of the restaurant and down the street.

It's past dusk, and there aren't very many people out on the streets. Mid-August in Detroit proves to be rather warm, even at nighttime, and it seems that most humans have opted to be the heat in air-conditioned businesses, or go elsewhere.

Connor follows BD for a couple blocks, all the way to the park, actually. He originally wasn't going to go through all this trouble to get information on Abigail, but time was running out. He was given a month to accomplish his mission, but now he only had two and a half weeks. Some risks just had to be taken.

Before Connor met the man at the restaurant, he created a vial of poison and disguised it as the payment BD requested. He thought he was getting some extra-powerful super-drug, when in reality he was getting a dangerously high dosage of flu medicine.

It wasn't the best idea, but Connor's resources were limited at the time he decided to go through with the plan.

The android watches from afar as BD sits down on a park bench. He looks around a bit before pulling the vial out of his pocket and examining it some more. Connor is only looking at him from the back, but he can see enough to know when the man tilts his head back and downs the contents of the vial.

Perhaps Connor should feel at least a little guilty about poisoning a man, but then he supposes that it really shouldn't matter to him at all. He was told to do anything necessary to accomplish his mission, even kill. This was necessary, wasn't it?

Connor edges closer as he notices the man start to fall forward. He doesn't want the human to make a scene in public. As he calmly walks up to the dying man, he notes how desperate his breaths become. How his veins bulge out a bit and his face turns a violent shade of purple. The android finds it a rather curious situation; he's never quite seen a human die like this.

He prefers quicker deaths, if he's being honest with himself. A single bullet to the head, if possible. He was a machine, not a murderer. He killed only out of necessity, not because he enjoyed it. Right?

"Help..." the man rasps out, clawing at the throat uselessly. "Please... please get help..."

Connor stands there, still as a statue. He finds the situation fascinating and horrifying at the same time. Humans, such fragile creatures.

"You... you..." the man looks up at the android, his eyes bloodshot. "You... tricked me!" He hisses as angrily as he can manage.

Connor wishes the man would just die already. This was becoming boring and a bit pitiful. "I only want to complete my mission," he responds innocently.

The man struggles against the poison, and tries to lunge at Connor. The android easily knocks the man backwards, sending him to the ground.

"You... you're one of them, aren't you?" The man gasps out, now weighing on the ground. "You're a fucking android."

Connor wishes he still had his gun so he could end this man's rambling. He needs to find Abigail.

"You're gonna pay for this," the man seethes. "You're gonna... you're gonna..." he trails off in splutter of coughs.

Connor begins to walk away, seeing that the man doesn't have much time left, anyways.

"Go to hell!" The man call out weakly. "The lot of you should be destroyed! You should all have to face justice for your actions!"

Connor turns around, a retort on his tongue. He's actually quite disappointed to see the man's finally died. Oh well, at least that's over with.

He decides to take the long way out of the park, enjoying the peaceful nighttime. Connor straightens his tie, a habit he can't quite place when he picked up, and briefly considers the dead man's last words.

Androids didn't really die. They usually just got deactivated for one reason or another. They weren't human, after all.

And even if they did die, why would there be any kind of Afterlife for them? They had no souls. No spirits that lingered after death.

They were just... gone.

I will not go to hell, Connor thinks. But only because I will not go anywhere after death.

Because if androids did have an Afterlife, Connor's certain he wouldn't be going to a good place. Not after his recent actions, anyways.

Hm. Maybe there was something to that man's words after all.


End file.
